Banking

General Electric has hired Morgan Stanley to review its 33 per cent stake in Thailand’s Bank of Ayudhya, which could potentially lead to a sale by the US conglomerate of its near US$2.2 billion holding, sources familiar with the matter said.

People looking to securely store their favourite family heirloom or marriage certificate are finding it increasingly hard to rent safe deposit boxes in the city as the rising cost of real estate makes banks reluctant to expand the service.

A banker, who declined to be named, said banks did not want to install more safe deposit boxes as it was not a profitable business.

By day, Hang Seng Bank director Andrew Fung Hau-chung lives the life of a high-flying financier. By night, the works of Shelley or Shakespeare are more likely to preoccupy him than currency cross rates or bond swaps.

The veteran banker, who now heads Hang Seng's investment, insurance and treasury operations, has seen many ups and downs in the city's banking industry.

Bradley Birkenfeld, the former UBS banker who went to prison after telling the United States Internal Revenue Service (IRS) how the bank helped thousands of Americans evade taxes, secured a whistle-blower award of US$104 million, the largest individual federal payout in US history.

The price of China Minsheng Bank shares fell yesterday on news that two brokerage houses had downgraded its ratings over concerns of deteriorating asset quality and narrowing profits due to a regulatory change.

The Hong Kong Monetary Authority will spend HK$17 million to establish an electronic-bill payment system in the city in the second half of next year.

The authority also is studying an electronic cheques transfer system and a more advanced mobile-phone payment platform that could be introduced in 2014. Costs of implementing the two alternatives are still being worked out.

China Construction Bank says it is unrealistic to achieve double-digit growth in non-interest income in the current half year because its ability to charge fees may continue to be affected by regulatory clampdowns.

Chong Hing Bank, one of the few remaining family-run lenders in Hong Kong, said yesterday that business had improved in the first half but profit had slumped due to the absence of several one-time gains that bolstered earnings last year.

Net profit dropped 36.6 per cent to HK$260 million compared with year-earlier period.

The central government's plan to expand a planned revamp of the national financial loans system is a reflection of authorities seeking to combat rising moral degradation.

Analysts say the move also suggests that the government recognises that the public is becoming increasingly distrustful amid widespread corruption, negligence of duty and other malpractice among officials.

Anyone who has typed the dots and dashes of an SOS distress call will appreciate the similarities to the present global race to cross the t's and dot the i's as we focus on the emergency response to the Libor rate-setting scandal.